Conrad Aiken

Conrad P. Aiken has been called one of the most neglected giants of 20th-century American poetry and his work is a rewarding read for any poetry lover. Overcoming a devastating childhood tragedy, Aiken would go on to become become a prolific novelist and poet. He was honored by winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1930 and later served as U.S. Poet Laureate.

Savannah remembers his legacy and his cultural contributions with a historical marker along Oglethorpe Avenue.

Early Life

Conrad Potter Aiken was born in 1889 to William Ford and Anna Potter Aiken. Although his father was a well-respected doctor and mother was from an upstanding family, tragedy struck when young Conrad Aiken was just 11 years old.  Early one winter morning in 1901, he heard gunshots. Before he could get to his parents room, both were dead. His father had killed his mother and them immediately committed suicide. Now an orphan, the unspeakable tragedy sent Aiken to Massachusetts to live with extended family members.

College Years

Aiken's college years at Harvard University coincided with the presidency of William Howard Taft. During his his time at university, he was profoundly impacted by philosopher George Santayana, who served as one of Aiken's professors. In an interview later in life, Aiken commented that Santayana showed him a "view of what poetry would ultimately be." T.S. Eliot, who would also go on to become a famous poet,  also attended Harvard around the same time. Aiken graduated in 1912.

Marriages & Children

Aiken was not just a prolific poet, but also prolific in his relationships. Going against the moral standards of the day, he married three times. His first marriage to Jessie McDonald in 1912. Nine years and two children later, the family moved to England.  While there, the family welcomed another child, Joan (Aiken), who would grow up in the footsteps of her father to become an acclaimed-writer herself.  In 1927, Aiken returned to the United States to become a tutor at Harvard. He divorced Jessie in 1929 and was married to Clarissa Lorenz by the following year. He met Mary Hoover six years later and unceremoniously divorced second wife Clarissa to marry Mary in 1937. This relationship might be evidence of the old saying, "the third time is the charm."  Aiken's marriage to Mary lasted the duration of his life.

Famous Poems

Aiken wrote over two dozens poetry collections during his lifetime. The first, Earth Triumphant, was published in 1914 by The Macmillan Company.  He dedicated the collection to his wife in the forward writing beautifully......

Whatever loveliness is in this music,

Whatever yearning after lovely things,

Whatever crying after stars in darkness,

Whatever beating of impending wings:

Whatever climbing of the rose to sunlight,

Sweet-hearted laugh from the dark blind sod:

Whatever madness of the sea for moonlight,

Whatever yearning of the good to God:

All that is beautiful, and all that looks on beauty

With eyes filled with fire, like a lovers eyes:

All of this is yours, you gave it to me, sunlight!

All these stars are yours; you've them to me, skies!

Aiken's second published work of poetry was Turns of Movies and other Tales in Verse in 1916. Before the end of the decade, he went on to release The Jig of Forslin, Nocturne of Remembered Spring: And Other Poems, and Charnel Rose. As the 1910's turned into the 1920s, Aiken cranked out the greatest volume of poetry collections of his career including The House of Dust, Priapus and the Pool, The Pilgrimage of Festus.

His pinnacle work was Selected Poems, released in 1929, was very well received. The following year, it was selected by Brian Hooker, Bliss Perry and Wilbur L. Cross (who served on the Jury of the Pulitzer Organization) as the winner of the 1930 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

United States Poet Laureate

Another of the great accomplishments of Conrad Aiken's career was his time as the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.  This position, begun in 1937, is a high honor in the circle of poets. Basically, it is the United States Government declaring you as the official poet of the United States. An Act of Congress renamed the position (in 1985) to Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress, although the common reference is U.S. Poet Laurette. 

National Book Award

Aiken's autobiograhical narrative, Ushant, was a non-fiction finalist for the National Book Award in 1953.  Ultimately, the award  went to The Course of Empire by Bernard A. De Vito. However, the following year, Aiken's Collected Poems was selected in 1954 as the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry.

Later Life & Death

During his years of marriage to Mary Hoover, the Conrad & Mary would split there time between the north and the south; spending the summers in Massachusetts and winters in Savannah. Aiken remained an active writer throughout the 1960s. He lived to be 84.  His death came in 1973 and pursuant to his wishes, he was buried in Bonaventure Cemetery. John Berendt would include the site of Aiken's burial in his infamous book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.